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Forum: Efforts made to support well-being of students with special needs in mainstream schools

Forum: Efforts made to support well-being of students with special needs in mainstream schools

Straits Times3 days ago
We thank Mr Yuanyou Gao for the letter '
More can be done for well-being of students with special needs ' (July 17) and for sharing his perspective as a parent of a child with autism.
In a recent reply to a Forum letter, '
Building a supportive, safe learning environment for all ' (July 19), we shared that our schools continue to make the efforts to implement a whole-of-school approach to create a nurturing environment that supports all learners. Preventive, educative and restorative measures are adopted to address bullying incidents.
We agree that supporting students with diverse learning needs is a shared responsibility in schools. Building expertise takes time – much like society's journey towards inclusion. Through daily interactions with students and collaborative work with school personnel such as school counsellors and special educational needs (SEN) officers, our teachers continue to hone their skills and develop the confidence to foster positive classroom and school cultures.
The adolescent years present unique challenges for all students, including students with SEN. During this period, the partnership between schools and parents is vital in providing effective support for our students.
Parent-teacher meetings and case conferences help develop strategies that can be implemented both at home and in school. This collaborative approach between parents and school personnel helps students develop essential social skills and self-advocacy strategies, creating a supportive environment that bridges school and home.
The Ministry of Education will continue to build up our efforts to support students with SEN, by working closely with schools, parents and the community so that our education system evolves and remains responsive to diverse learners' needs.
Dayna Chia
Divisional Director, Special Educational Needs Division
Ministry of Education
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SMRT fined $2.4 million for six-day East-West Line breakdown last September
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SMRT fined $2.4 million for six-day East-West Line breakdown last September

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Commentary: As cyber threats grow, Singapore walks a careful line on identifying state actors
Commentary: As cyber threats grow, Singapore walks a careful line on identifying state actors

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time14 hours ago

  • CNA

Commentary: As cyber threats grow, Singapore walks a careful line on identifying state actors

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Arguably, not shaming the country where the threat group operates from could risk emboldening future attacks and invite scrutiny from security partners who expect transparency. More importantly, it may make public education about the seriousness of cyber threats more challenging. The public may not understand the full context, for example, of the motivation or geopolitical implications of an attack. WHY NAMING WITHOUT SHAMING While Singapore avoids attributing cyber threats to specific states, naming and shaming is the preferred approach for many Western countries and some of their Asian allies, particularly those that view China as a preeminent threat. For countries not directly involved in adversarial relations or those that pursue a foreign policy of non-alignment, it may be more prudent to deter cyber threats without exacerbating geopolitical animosity. The cost of escalation may be too high a risk to bear. Moreover, it remains debatable whether naming and shaming helps to curb cyber threats in a meaningful way. In Singapore's context, there could also be other plausible strategic considerations. First, Singapore is a cosmopolitan country made up of locally born citizens, naturalised citizens and foreigners. Social cohesion is the glue that keeps its people together and maintains communal harmony. Publicly identifying another country as a threat carries the risk of fuelling racism and xenophobia, including Sinophobia. For example, in 2021, the fear that the Singapore-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) posed a threat to the livelihood of citizens raised the ugly head of xenophobia. Second, there is an observable trend in which Western cybersecurity companies often attribute cyber threat groups to China following incidents involving Western digital networks. 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Such a world is even less black and white, and similar to dealing with the US tariff threat, countries must find a balance between resisting compulsion and promoting cooperation. It is prudent not to let one issue define the overall state of bilateral relations. Furthermore, Singapore is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and China is a dialogue partner of ASEAN. One essential area where ASEAN and China are cooperating is the signing of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) 3.0 in October 2025, aimed at building economic resilience. ASEAN countries, therefore, need to consider both national and regional interests. In the same vein, the overall state of bilateral relations - as well as factors such as motivation, attack impact and international law - would determine how Singapore responds to cyber threats originating from other countries. 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For example, imagine a scenario where Singapore faces military coercion and concurrently a cyberattack by a state-linked threat actor that shuts down the digital infrastructure and electrical systems of hospitals nationwide, resulting in deaths. These are extreme scenarios that, hopefully, Singapore will never have to deal with but must prepare for in the unlikely event that they occur.

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